Pre-empting breast cancer will save many lives and breast removal is seen to be a good way to do this. A study is now suggesting that this may not be the case and many women are having their breasts removed and not gaining any benefit from it. In the United Kingdom, there are 4,000 double mastectomies* carried out each year. The women believe that they are preventing cancer, but a recent report out of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital states that most would not get cancer anyway.
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Results showed that there was no increase in survival rates, despite the fact that there was a rise in the amount of woman having healthy breasts removed. Dr. Mehra Golshan Brigham Women’s Hospitals chair of oncology stated that the research showed that breast removal did not offer higher survival rates despite the increase in the number of procedures carried out.
He carried on to say that patients should consider how they will feel after the procedure, the risk of complications, and the fact that there could still be further surgery needed. At present 8% of the 35,000 women in Britain diagnosed opt for breast removal.
Some women opt for a double mastectomy as losing one breast would give them an unbalanced look, and understanding the reasons, gives more chance for other options to be considered.
*Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer.
Original Story; annsurgoncol.org
